Hallo Welt!

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Once again, many years has passed since my last blog update. In the past three years, many exciting things have happened! That means I get to just put a bunch of disjointed thoughts here about what has happened.

2022

- Rehab from second shoulder surgery continued into 2022 (but we went to Arizona on a road trip that winter for family Christmas time, which was awesome—filled with piñatas, Scottsdale, food, and fun—and we visited SpaceX’s launch site in Texas and spent NYE in New Orleans on the way back)

- My boyfriend went to Ukraine as a volunteer in 2022 about a week after the Russian invasion, and he still does humanitarian work there

- I started a new task at my job (lots of travel, less on-hands lab work, lots of learning)—the highlights included a few trips to some boat builder, working with other engineers and scientists in the industry, and being involved in some logistically challenging testing

- I ran my first 50 miler in 2022 (it was five loops of mostly trails, with about 1-2 miles on road each lap) and placed first female (second overall, but first newbie). It was closer to 52-54 miles, and I had to walk the last 10 miles because that’s when my legs were in too much pain to run (strangely, after a water stop when they felt fine—the stopping caused something to clench up).

2023

- I returned to running and training with CAR (Capital Area Runners) in 2023 and loved every moment. I raced a 5k and 10k at the start to see where I was for training (much slower than in 2019)

- I got hit by a kid on a bicycle while I was on a work trip in Hawaii (took a 12 week recovery for my “good” hamstring to respond correctly), had a really rough Tracksmith 5k a week after returning to running, but I was able to run the Philadelphia Marathon in the fall (nutrition wouldn’t sit right after mile 13 and I had a rough day, running my then slowest marathon, but I ran slower again in 2024).

2024

- I ran a 5k (track) and then the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in the spring of 2024, and I was able to follow that up with the Berlin Marathon at the end of September. Training in the spring went well, but it fell apart in the summer due to injuries (lots of sitting hurts my hamstrings).

Now, this year, I would say the biggest news is that I quit my job to go back to school for my masters degree! My boyfriend and I were having a rough time with the time zone differences, so I told him I would find a way to be closer to him. I applied to three different schools for MSc in Materials Science and Engineering in Germany. I started saving more money, researching what I had to do for the move, and immediately started to downsize and get rid of items.

I was rejected from the first university (FH Münster), but in June I was accepted at FAU (Friedrich-Alexander Universitat) in Erlangen! I was also accepted to University of Stuttgart (but by then it was already late August). I told my coworkers and supervisor immediately so we could plan any jobs that needed to be handed over to another person. I started HARDCORE cleaning and declutterring. I changed my flight to Berlin (I was already planning to run the marathon) to a few weeks earlier. I got to work on my enrollment papers and process (I would need things like a place to stay, a blocked account, health insurance, certified copies of my degrees, etc). I sold my car and planned to rent out my condo.

In September, I arrived a few days before the German Intensive Course began (a 2.5 week course taught in the off-lecture period). I had studied a little German before arriving just to calm my nerves and be prepared for the basics (using Duolingo, Babble+, and German-stories.com). The course was fantastic! It was a small class of about 16 of us. I was the only one from the USA, and we had students from Spain, South Africa, Taiwan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and India (in that order because I was thinking back to the seating arrangement). We learned at the A1.1 level, took a trip to Bamberg, and had a picnic after our final exam. I’m looking forward to learning more German (I passed my course with a 1,0)!

The semester has technically started, but lectures don’t begin until next week. I’ll try to keep a more updated blog while I’m here. Maybe I’ll cover some of the hurdles I ran into while preparing for my trip, or life in Germany, or being a student again. For now, there’s a scavenger hunt for international students in 15 minutes! I must be off!

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